The present disclosure relates to energy management, and more particularly to power consuming device control methods and electrical energy consumption systems.
Home energy management (HEM) systems are becoming a key to reducing energy consumption in homes and buildings, in a consumer friendly manner. Existing HEMs are commonly in the form of a special custom configured computer with an integrated display, which communicates to devices in the home and stores data, and also has simple algorithms to enable energy reduction. This type of device may also include a keypad for data entry or the display may be a touch screen. In either arrangement, the display, computer and key pad (if used) are formed as a single unit. This single unit is either integrated in a unitary housing, or if the display is not in the same housing, the display and computer are otherwise connected/associated upon delivery from the factory and/or synchronized or tuned to work as a single unit.
Key functions of a HEM include:                Creates a network of energy consuming devices within the home,        Measures the consumption of the whole home/building or individual devices,        Records and stores energy consumption information in a database, and        Enables consumer interface with all energy consuming devices in a home to:                    view consumption data of individual devices            set preferences for operation of energy consuming devices at different times during the day or at different energy pricing levels            control/program energy consuming devices.                        
In some installations, an auxiliary power generating source, such as a gas generator, solar cell array, wind turbine, etc., or combination thereof, is provided to supply power to the appliances and other energy consuming devices during interruptions in utility power, or to provide supplemental power to reduce electric utility costs. In some cases, power generated by such consumer (residential) power generators is sold back to the electric utility.